Trust Issues
by Isotta Padovesi
Summary: A normal man, leading a normal life. However, Fate has more in store for him "down the road", so to speak.


**This is my first fanfic- its a piece we did in English last year for creative writing. Did some edits, and I thought "Hey, why don't I put this on facfiction, seeing as it is a fictitious piece." It's going to be short, I only see another chapter in its future. **

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><p><span>Trust Issues<span>

It was just another normal day. Nothing spectacular happened in the office today. Jim brought in some doughnuts, but by the time I found out, the interns had come and gone, leaving only multi-colored sprinkles and napkins behind. I drove home from work in the usual San Francisco rush-hour traffic to my quaint, blue beach house. As I entered the door, my wife screamed from inside the kitchen.

"Morris! Where were you? I was worried sick! You're late for dinner once again, and look! Now it's gone cold."

Limp spinach and sweaty tofu stared dismally at me from the white porcelain plate sitting on our tiny, seashell-studded table.

"Deborah! I called you from the office, remember? I told you that traffic looked bad, and I would miss dinner."

The traffic wasn't that bad, I thought to myself. I might have been able to make it home. But honestly, I hade Deborah's cooking. She's gone into this organic phase now. Not a single scrap of junk food is left in the house now. Steak- gone. Pizza- you can forget that! So I called her, told her that I wasn't going to be home for dinner, and went to Wendy's for a burger and fries.

She said "Now, Morris. You know you have to have five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. I know you don't eat the organic broccoli and pea pods I send in your work bag. Where else are you going to get those vital nutrients? Certainly not from Jim!"

I had to laugh at that. Jim, one of my coworkers, and my neighbor, always brings in some kind of treat to work.

"Well, honey, why don't we take a walk down on the beach? The sun is setting, and walking is good for you. Exercise _is_ healthy, right?"

"Mmm... Okay. You seem to be packin on the pounds there, mister!" She said, jokingly jabbing me in the stomach. "Exercise does sound like a good idea. Let me get my hat and sandals."

The walk was very nice. Watching the sunset, I waded into the white, foaming surf. I thought to myself, what a nice ending to a mediocre day. Deborah and I walked back to the house just as it started getting dark.

Later, I did some work for the office and watched some TV, then went to bed. The next day, I left for work early, because I had to pick up Jim.

"Hey Jim," I said as he hopped into the car. "Ready to give that presentation today?"

"Yeah. I spent all last night putting the finishing touches on it. I was up till midnight."

"Well," I said. "Do we need to stop on the way and get some coffee?"

"Probably. I'm dead on my feet. It's a wonder my tie isn't on backwards."

"Hate to break it to you, Jim, but it is."  
>Jim scrambled to fix it, and I chuckled to myself. He was so gullible sometimes. It's a wonder something bad hasn't happened to him because of it yet.<p>

"Really, Jim! You have to learn to be a little less...trusting. Now it's really on backwards!"

Then, all of a sudden, the car made a funny clunking noise. I put my blinkers on, and pulled over onto the side of the highway. I could see smoke billowing our form under the hood of the car. I jumped out of the car, and ran to check it out. Jim popped the hood, and we just stood there, staring down at the smoldering, billowing mess.

I was the first to break the silence. "Well, we'd better call a tow truck."

"Morris, we're going to be late to the presentation! Mark's going to kill us! We'll probably be fired! We won't be able to find jobs anywhere; we'll have to collect...collect _unemployment_!"

"Whoa, Jim. Don't freak out on me here. We've got to keep our cool and think things through _logically_. I'll just call Mark and tell him we're-"

I looked down at my cell phone. I pressed a button on the keypad. The familiar fluorescent glow of the screen did not welcome me this time, as it had so many times in the past. I tried turning it on. Nothing happened. The phone was dead.

"Oh, damn it!" I grumbled. "My phone's dead."

"Morris, now what are we going to do? We're stranded out here with _nothing_. No food, no water, and nowhere to go. We're going to die out here! Do you hear me!" Jim screamed as he grasped my shoulders, shaking them violently.

I shoved Jim and he fell to the ground. Dusting himself off, he got up and said "Thanks, Morris. I get panicky about those kinds of things. That's my worst fear, you know. Breaking down in the middle of nowhere, I mean."

I told him "S'okay. How about you just sit down and relax for awhile. I'll work on getting us to work."

I had many solutions in mind. We could hitchhike, and bum a ride to work. But then I thought, what would I do with my car? If I left it there, surely some unruly gang of teenagers wouldn't think twice about taking the tires. I then decided we had only one option: Jim would stay here with the car, and I would flag someone down who would let me borrow their cell phone. I would try to flag someone down who would let me borrow their cell phone, and call Mark to let him know what was going on. Then, I would call a tow truck, and after that a taxi. Great, I thought. Wonderful plan, Morris! You've outdone yourself again!  
>So Jim stayed in the car, and I went to find a cell phone. As a man in a red Ford Explorer pulled up, I thought that everything was going according to plan. The man rolled down his window and asked "Excuse me, sir, Can I be of any assistance to you?"<p>

I replied "Yes. Our car broke down on our way to work, and my phone died. Can I-"

"-borrow your cell phone? Why certainly! Hang on, one second." he said, disappearing back to the darkened interior of the car.

I replied "Yes, thank you so much. You truly are a life saver."

"Really?" he replied, his face still hidden by the tinted windows. "I know a few who would disagree with you on that one."

The tone of his voice... it gave me chills and I started to regret this decision. I was jolted back to reality by the sound of the electric windows rolling down.

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><p><strong>To be continued...when I have more free time. Drop me a review, if you feel like it. <strong>


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